Dos and don'ts of making a complaint about adult social care services

Make sure you have a good reason to complain. For example, certain medical treatments are not without risk. If the risks have been clearly explained to you, you have given valid consent to the treatment, and no professional mistakes have been made, you don't have grounds for a complaint

Reason to complain

Don't make claims with no basis about the organisations or members of their staff. And don't use the complaints procedures to reopen concerns which have already been fully investigated and where no evidence of wrongdoing was found.

List your concerns in a clear way, giving the names of the people concerned and the dates of events that have happened. Don't forget to include your full name, date of birth, address and other contact details. In the case of NHS complaints, also give your NHS number.